


Blank Years, Stolen Memories

by Ghost_Writing



Series: Stardew Valley One Shots and Drabbles [4]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Emotional Hurt, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Heavy Angst, Heavy Drinking, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Memory Magic, Memory Related, Nonbinary Character, Other, Sad, Sad Shane, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:55:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22946668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Writing/pseuds/Ghost_Writing
Summary: Cody, the farmer, was so excited to finally be able to re-friend Sam, however, the memory wipe backfired... horribly.
Relationships: Shane/Nonbinary Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Player (Stardew Valley)
Series: Stardew Valley One Shots and Drabbles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708618
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Blank Years, Stolen Memories

Cody made their way back to town, they’d just purchased the memory wipe from the dark shrine and was excited to be able to talk to Sam once more.

They walked towards Sam, who was attempting a kick-flip by the bench.

“Hey, Sam!” they called, waving.

“Oh, hello, you must be the new farmer. I guess you’ve already met my mom since you know my name,” Sam replied cheerfully, giving Cody a bright smile.

Cody smiled back. “Yeah I have, I just wanted to say hi and give you this…” Cody pulls out a pizza from their bag and offers it to Sam.

“Ah, sick dude! We’re gonna be friends for sure!” Sam takes the pizza, biting into it. “Just in time for lunch too,” he says through a mouthful of food.

“Glad you liked it, well I’ll talk to you later,” Cody chirps, waving goodbye.

“‘Bye,” Sam calls through a mouthful of food.

Cody made their way up through the town, taking time to visit Pierres and buy new seeds since it had just turned spring and they needed to get their beans started. They made a pleasant conversation with Pam, who was heading to the bus stop, as they headed back home.

It didn’t take long for them to plant the new seeds in the ground and water them good, as well as check on their chickens and cows. However, they didn’t see Shane anywhere. They headed up to check if he was in his coop when they noticed it was gone!

They ran inside the house.

“Shane?! SHANE?! SHANE?!” they shouted as they looked all over the house twice for him. Their heart sank into their stomach when he was nowhere to be found throughout the house. His room was gone from next to their bedroom.  
“No, no, no, no, no, no…” they mumbled to themselves as they slumped down in the middle of the kitchen. “He’s gone… why… what did I do…?” 

Buttercup, their dog, came up to them whining. When Cody didn’t respond, she started licking their face. Trying to bring them out of the panic attack.

Despite her efforts, they passed out from exhaustion in the middle of the kitchen, slumped against the stove.  
__

When Cody awoke the next day, they almost forgot, until they realized they were in their kitchen, and Shane wasn’t next to them.

The first part of the day was a blur as they went about the farm, collecting eggs, milking the cows and watering their crops.

Once they’d finished it was noon, Shane should be on his way to Pierres by now. So they grabbed their bag and jacket and headed towards the city.

The walk was short and sweet, they arrived at Pierre’s in no time and had an alibi in case something went wrong. They opened the door to the store and headed down the first aisle, no Shane, second aisle, no Shane, third isle, no Shane, and fourth, no Shane. They were panicking now. Where was he?

They tried to put on a smile and walked up to Pierre at the counter.

“Pierre, have you seen Shane today?” they asked.

“Oh, Cody, just who I was looking for. Shane came in earlier to get some supplies for Marnie when I asked him how you were doing, he didn’ seem to know who you were… did something happen?” Pierre replied, giving them a worried look.

Cody’s heart sank lower into his chest.  
“Y-yeah, everything’s fine,” they chirped before leaving the store.

They rushed down towards the Stardrop Saloon, heart in hand as they tried not to cry. 

They entered the saloon and looked around for Shane. And there he was, in his usual spot at the bar, beer mugs next to him. 

Gingerly, they approached him. 

“Hey, is this seat taken?”

“No. Go away,” Shane slurred, glaring at the counter.

Cody sat down.  
“Well that’s contradictive,” they commented as they flagged down Gus and ordered themselves a beer.  
“Why have you been at Marnies?”

Shane glared at them.  
“We just met. Why would I tell you,” he spat, downing the last of the beer in the glass he’d been clutching.

Cody froze. The spell… it didn’t just go to Sam…  
They held back a choked sob before chugging the beer Gus had just handed them.  
“Keep them coming… For me and him,” they mumbled, handing Gus ten million g. 

Gus gave them a sad look before nodding.

“I don’t know, I was curious. Haven’t seen you around town. I’m Cody, by the way.”

“Why’d you do that?” Shane spat.

“Well you’re drinking and I need to… forget some things for tonight.”

“Careful when doing that, I lost three years that way. They’re all blank in my mind.”

Cody clutched their mouth and quickly looked down as tears pricked their eyes.  
“That sucks…” was all they could muster. 

Shane grunted, grabbing the next beer Gus handed him and taking a sip.

Cody took theirs and chugged it down, doing the same with the next six until his vision swarmed and his mind went black.  
__

The next week was a blur of waking up, doing their daily chores and then blacking out at the saloon. There were a few times they could remember, but those were suppressed so far down that they were barely fragments. Every night they went with the intent of telling Shane why he couldn’t remember the last three years, but they always backed down. 

How could they admit to him that they were the cause of his memory loss? How could they tell him that those precious three years with them was all because they were trying to make everyone happy? How could they expect him to forgive them?


End file.
